Game:

Bulk Slash (1997)

Duration: 14:53

56 views

2

Video footage from original SEGA Saturn hardware on a Philips 25PT 5106 CRT screenshot with a Huawei Honor 8 camera

Bulk Slash
System(s): Sega Saturn
Publisher: Hudson Soft
Developer: C.A. Production

Game description:
Bulk Slash is a third-person action mecha simulation video game developed by CAProduction (Computer Artist Production), a company based in Nagasaki with strong links to the Hudson of old, and responsible for various popular games including Lords of Thunder, Hagane and Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphireand, published by Hudson Soft for the Sega Saturn in Japan on July 11, 1997. Taking place on a futuristic science fiction setting, where military chief Alois Gardona and discriminated inhabitants of the fictional planet Blau plots a coup d'état against their oppressors, players assume the role of SDF fighter pilot Cress Dawley in order to win the war against Gardona and his army.
Bulk Slash deserves to stand alongside the Panzer Dragoon series, Radiant Silvergun and Burning Rangers, as the pinnacle of what the system was capable of. The developer is.
Described loosely: Bulk Slash is like a cross between Virtual On and Burning Rangers, with simple controls and an instantaneous mecha-transformation mechanic. It’s much simpler than either of those two though, playing more like a traditional arcade action title. There’s barely even a story… After the great galactic war ends, the planet Blau and its citizens are oppressed and discriminated against by the victors. Former military chief Alois Gardona enacts a coup d’état, to bring Blau back to power, and so a coalition of planets is rallied to put a stop to them. No prizes for guessing which real-world early 20th century events this seems to be copying… As the game’s protagonist you are an S.D.F. pilot who must single-handedly win the war.
You can switch between controlling a walking robot or jetfighter at will, as many times as you like. As the robot you can jump and shoot, and when close to an enemy you can attack with a laser sword. When not attacking a little bar charges up and, when nearly full, allows you to lob a powerful bomb with wide blast radius. There are also three varieties of power-up with finite ammo: Flame Blaster, which is like a devastating flamethrower; Bezier Blaster, a kind of homing laser; and Napalm Blaster, which shoots out little energy spheres and isn’t particularly useful. You run, turn and strafe via a combination of the d-pad and L&R buttons (customizable in the Options menu), while A transforms you, B shoots and C jumps while in ground mode. As the jetfighter you have unlimited flight, a standard blaster attack and, if you allow the bar to charge up, a series of homing missiles. During flight mode button C changes speed between 25, 50, 75 and 100%.
It’s not a complicated system – certainly it’s nothing like Virtual On, or any of the Armored Core games by From Software. Rather, Bulk Slash isn’t so much a mecha game, rather an action game that happens to have mecha in it.. Adding some needed depth is the Manageable Intelligent Support System (aka M.I.S.S.), which is a fancy way of describing your navigators. There are seven in total, one for each planet in the game, and it adds a kind of pseudo dating-sim element to proceedings. If you can find their icon in the playfield, a little pink helmet with M.I.S.S. above it, you can choose to bring that navigator along for the ride. She’ll scream out when you take damage or grab power-ups, and will describe where your next goal is in relation to your current position. According to an online guide, each navigator provides some kind of ability bonus.
Each girl gains experience through usage, which affects their ending and the bonus art unlocked after the game’s completion. The idea is that you’ll play through the game repeatedly with your favorite navigator, raising her affinity for you to the maximum Level 3, unlocking all the artwork, and enjoying the bonus ending after the regular one. For navigators who can only be recruited in later levels, such as Karen Steiner, you need to finish the game with them and then restart to build up sufficient experience.

Sources:
https://segaretro.org/Bulk_Slash
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulk_Slash
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/bulk-slash/

Official Website:
https://web.archive.org/web/20050123130645/http://www.hudson.co.jp/gamenavi/gamedb/softinfo/bulk/info/index.html

Bulk Slash English Fan Translation / Twin Sticks Patch:
https://www.segasaturnshiro.com/2021/12/10/bulk-slash-english-fan-translation-twin-sticks-patch-released/
https://segaxtreme.net/resources/bulk-slash-english.105/

Bulk Slash soundtrack available at:
https://downloads.khinsider.com/game-soundtracks/album/bulk-slash-saturn

Intro music: Real Fiction "Blind", Seven faces of the truth 2006 https://realfiction7.bandcamp.com/track/blind

Other Statistics